monterey auctions

[fg1227]

looks like they sold well over a hundred million over the week end
here some samples:
275 gtb/4 1.925,000,1,375,000
400 super america 1,650,000
gt40 1,465,000
gullwing 770,000
alfa romeo 6c grand sport1,107,000
XKE ptototype 4,957,000

hell of a recession!

[denson]

It is only a recession when you sell a car to a dealer, but prosperous times when they are selling you a car!

Great auction news, though.

[70tangerine]

5 mil for E type proto?.....

[VintageExcellen]

I was at most of the auctions but I took more interest in the paltry under $500k cars. Gooding and RM auctions are the heavy hitters on this weekend.

Highlights I saw:

64 356 Outlaw with 930 engine, in Excellence this month - sold for $115,000 hammer price

51 356 Split window, a really well done car. I was saying all week the car was worth $100k as it really was correct and special. My colleges were saying it was a $50k car but then there was a fight with multiple bidders, one of them a S reg guy, the car ended up at $100k sale price and I think in a few years it will be looked at as very well bought.

Ferry Porsche's personal 356 Carrera Cab went for $300k - this car had all the providence but was a little rough.

Muscle cars at Russo & Steele were not selling well at all - Hemi Cuda was a no sale at $250k, the Lambo Muira S was also a no sale at around $250k. There was not much interest in the very few 911 cars available on auction, one silver 911S targa was really a project car and not ready for sale. Trans Am Camaro & Corevette were no sales and did not get close to value. I ran a soft window targa and it was a no sale - boo hoo.

Always keep in mind the bidder must pay an additional 10% on top of the hammer price (sellers are charged 10% as well). When auctions list the sold price they include the buyer's premium in the figure - so if RM reports a car sold for $100,000 then the hammer price was 10% less.

[LongRanger]

. . . Ferry Porsche's personal 356 Carrera Cab went for $300k - this car had all the providence but was a little rough . . .

I had some contact with a 356 Carrera Cab that had once belonged to Ferry Porsche, a few years back --- supplied headlights for it. What can you tell me about the car at auction? Year, color, etc?

Rick Kreiskott

[vipergruen]

Did anyone go to the Bonhams auction?

I'm particularly interested in any feedback on the 2.7 RS (#0463) that was sold there for $232k. It's one of the few heavily-optioned ones originally delivered to brazil, and I know another one that am "discussing" with the owner.

Thank you
Andrea

[VintageExcellen]

Rick, the Ferry Porsche Carrera cab came out of the Pacific Northwest I believe, sellers sell airplanes for a living. It was a 1960 T5 body, metallic blue exterior which makes sense as Ferry Porsche also had a 67 911S built for him in a Metallic blue (a Maserati color that he loved). The interior was black with houndstooth inserts however the hounds tooth material was the cheap domestic US Camaro style. The car had been in a front end accident while Ferry owned the car so the factory installed a T6 front end on the car. The Carrera 4 cam engine was a later version which has serial number 000001 on it!? The 4 cam guys will notice that the air cleaners on that car are of an unusual shape - they are dished to accept the early decklid. So the car showed well but concours it was not.

I think the headlights had glass Bosch fluted lenses, period correct.

[fryardds]

Andrea,

Thanks for the heads up on the RS Touring sold at Bonhams. I missed that in the catalogue so I didn't know to check it out while I was out there.

This RS was owned by Cal Turner, who had aquired it from Dave Mohlman. Dave recently bought it back from Cal and had it in his inventory. Didn't know it was going up for sale last weekend. Seems like a correct price based on the photos he sent over to me last month.

[LongRanger]

Rick, the Ferry Porsche Carrera cab came out of the Pacific Northwest I believe, sellers sell airplanes for a living. It was a 1960 T5 body, metallic blue exterior which makes sense as Ferry Porsche also had a 67 911S built for him in a Metallic blue (a Maserati color that he loved). The interior was black with houndstooth inserts however the hounds tooth material was the cheap domestic US Camaro style. The car had been in a front end accident while Ferry owned the car so the factory installed a T6 front end on the car. The Carrera 4 cam engine was a later version which has serial number 000001 on it!? The 4 cam guys will notice that the air cleaners on that car are of an unusual shape - they are dished to accept the early decklid. So the car showed well but concours it was not.

I think the headlights had glass Bosch fluted lenses, period correct.

Hi, Mark . . .

Same car.

I first saw it back ~94-95, when it was being restored by Craig Stevenson, in Huntington Beach. (Craig was one of the first members of the Early ‘S’ Registry, back then, when it was first coming together --- are you on this board, Craig?)

Anyway, Craig told me an interesting story about how he found out about this car.

A Guy walks into Circle Porsche, dealership here in Long Beach, and strikes up a conversation with one of the salesmen. Now, the salesman is an ‘old-timer,’ knows his cars and his customers, and tells the The Guy that he’s been around Porsches a long time, owned and driven them since the ‘real’ Carrera days. The Guy says, ‘Really? Carreras, huh? I’ve got one of those cars.’ Turns out The Guy says he’s had his car since the 60s, drove it all over, put a ton of miles on it, then parked it, been laid-up for a while now.

The two talk for a while longer, but, as they part, the salesman asks if this Carrera might be for sale. ‘Yes, yes it would.’ Would The Guy mind if the salesman passes his phone number along. ‘Nope ---don’t mind.’

So the salesman calls Craig, and tells him about The Guy and the Carrera Cab. Craig takes down the number, calls, leaves a message. Nothing. Waits a week, calls again, leaves another message. No call back. He tries a few more times; nothing. These kinds of leads don’t always work out, so he files every thing away.

Six months go by.

Phone rings. Craig picks up. It’s The Guy. Good conversation. And yeah, it’s a real Carrera. Turns out The Guy got the car in Germany back the 60s, when he was stationed in Europe, from a Doctor-friend of . . . the Porsche family. Hmm. Bought the car, drove it all over Europe, loved it, brought it back to the US. After a while, when it got a little too ‘beat’ to use, he stuck the car into storage.

Everything sounds promising, so they agree to a time and a place to meet, to see what’s what. So, as the conversation ends, Craig asks The Guy how come it took him so long to call back. So The Guy tells him that, well, he’s kinda busy at work, been travelling. Turns out The Guy is a gentleman by the name of Bruce Hinds, Northrop’s Chief Test-pilot on their B-2 Stealth Bomber. Uhhh --- okay!

So the meeting takes place in San Pedro, at this kinda scary-nasty fire-trap wood-framed garage, a few blocks from the docks. The garage door opens up, and there, under the standard pile of boxes and garage junk that every 356 seems to attract, sits that familiar shape.

Craig said, when he first saw the car, he could tell right away that it had been used. Hard. There were obvious signs of damage, especially underneath, but a Carrera is a Carrera --- especially a Cab, so . . .

Time to check the motor. Now, any Carrera is absolutely all about the motor. (I’ve seen cars that literally started out as nothing but some exterior sheet metal and a VIN tag, that got built back up into complete cars, again . . . just ‘cause they’re Carreras.) So Craig pops open the deck-lid . . . and everything is ‘funny-looking.’ Yeah, it has the big-ass air cleaners --- but they’re weird. And yeah, it has all the under-hood sheet-metal shields --- but that’s weird, too, all built-up from pieces, not stamped. But anyway, at least the motor looks like an honest-to-goodness four-cam.

So, he looks down inside, to check the engine number out and reads ‘0000 . . . . 1.’

Ding-ding-ding-ding. Heart starts pounding. Big time. Number one motors --- hell, number one anything --- never leave Porsche. Period. That kind stuff is in a museum back in Der Vaterland. Uh-oh.

So Craig pulls himself together, takes a few minutes to look over the rest of the car (at least, what could get at), then chats The Guy up, ending with the inevitable ‘How much?’ So The Guy takes a moment, then slowly says . . . ‘I know the car’s worth a lot of money. But. All I want is enough money to buy my wife a new 928.’

Okay, the car is a total mess, probably needs absolutely everything, but . . .

Hhhh.

So, they get the car into the shop, and start digging in. As I recall, the car was titled as a ’61 Cabriolet . . . but Porsche didn’t build a Carrera Cabriolet in ’61. And everything is weird: the back half of the car is the older T5 body, but the front is all T6, with the squared-off hood and outside fuel-fill, but funky . . . everything looks like it was hand-fabricated, hand-fitted, and hand-assembled. And not klugey. Custom.

So they copy the title, then send a letter off to Porsche in Germany, to try and get some details about the car. Instead of the usual two or three weeks for a response, they got a small letter . . . . like in 5 days. ‘Congratulations, Mr Stevenson. I’m sure by now you know you have a very special car. We wondered what happened to it.’ A week later, another bigger package comes, this time with more documents and details about the car. (Was any correspondence available with the car, when it was presented at auction?)

Turns out, the car was a gift, presented by the employees of Porsche, to Ferry Porsche himself. The color was custom; Craig described it as Metallic blue-pearl red. The car had originally been fitted with a different engine. But, as you said, at some point, as it was completing a service prior to being taken on a vacation, a mechanic wrecked the car on a test-drive. The T6 model was coming on-line about that time, so they ended up tacking a bunch of T6 prototype sheet-metal in when they repaired the front. And, at the same time, the new 2-liter Carrera II motor was also being developed, so . . . they stuck that prototype in the Old Man’s car, as well!

My 356-osis was in full-flower, back then. I ended up supplying some NOS Euro headlights for the car. I even had an NOS hood-spear for it, too . .. . but that car never had one. I used to see that car whenever I came by Craig's shop. It always spooked me to think that that car had first belonged to the Man Whose Name Is On It. Never seen anything like it.

So who ended up with it? I remember The Factory was pretty hot for that car when they first heard about it. Ralph Lauren was supposed to have had some interest, as well. I mean ---JEEZ --- think about it. A real Porsche prototype with Engine Number One, factory custom everything, a genuine hand-built gift from The Factory . . . first owned by Ferry Porsche himself? $300k sounds cheap. Honestly, that thing really does belong in the Porsche museum. Does sound like someone had fun with it, over the last 15 years, though. And kinda scary, too.

Can you imagine putting a rod through that block?

Rick Kreiskott

[Mr9146]

Ferrari 512BB - no sale at RM ... I think it was $120K